Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda, the 61-year-old ever-smiling veteran parliamentarian from Karnataka, who took oath as a union cabinet minister Monday, was elected from the prestigious Bangalore North constituency in the Lok Sabha election.
Gowda, who hails from Puttur town in Dakshina Kannada in the coastal area, was the 20th chief minister of Karnataka from Aug 4, 2011 to July 8, 2012 after the BJP's first chief minister in south India B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned over corruption charges.
The BJP came to power for the first time in south India in May 2008 when Gowda was the party's state unit president.
Gowda, the Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur in the 15th Lok Sabha, resigned in September 2011 following his election to the state legislative council a month after he became chief minister.
After being a two-time lawmaker from Puttur, Gowda entered the Lok Sabha from Mangalore in 2004, defeating veteran Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily.
A graduate in science and law, Gowda is an active member of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) since his college days and was the district general secretary of the ABVP.